Deep lore is necessary for a good story, though. And while FR's may not be the best of the best, it can certainly holds its own if implemented properly. That it doesn't, and it fails to hold up to scrutiny, is all on Larian.
Why have Shadowheart wear what she does if no one's gonna notice, neither the druids who've got history with Shar nor the Chosen of Mystra? Why have her reveal feel like such a contentious moment, when they skipped any kind of build-up to it (would have just needed the aforementioned people giving a brief history lesson after questioning)?
Frankly, like someone else said, i think they're just throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks. The story they decided to go with exposes the player to mindflayers, vampires, fiends, cambions, Shar, playable and non-playable drows and gith. All that within the first few hours of play. I'd honestly be more shocked if the whole thing didn't feel halfbaked at large.
